Opponents take Wisconsin's voter ID law to court

The League of Women Voters has sued to try to stop a law that would require voters to show a photo ID before they can cast a ballot. The law is set to go into effect in Wisconsin in 2012. Republicans in Minnesota want to pass a similar rule but Gov. Dayton is opposed.

The League of Women Voters has sued to try to stop a law that would require voters to show a photo ID before they can cast a ballot. The law is set to go into effect in Wisconsin in 2012. Republicans in Minnesota want to pass a similar rule but Gov. Dayton is opposed.

A court case challenging Wisconsin's voter ID law is scheduled for trial on April 16th. The judge's injunction means photo IDs will not be required to vote in the state's election on April 3rd. The judge also said there's a "very substantial likelihood" the plaintiffs will win their challenge of the law.

In a shocking upset, the voter ID amendment has failed, and by a sizable margin. With 98 percent of precincts reporting, the "no" votes led by nearly 8 percentage points, MPR says. The measure would have amended the state constitution to require voters to bring photo IDs to the polls.

The measure advanced through a House committee on a party-line vote Monday. If the House and Senate pass the proposal, then voters in the November election will decide whether to amend the state constitution to require that all would-be voters present a photo ID before they cast a ballot.

A Wisconsin voter group is suing the state over a requirement to show a photo ID at the polls. The League of Women Voters says the provision signed into law by Governor Scott Walker in May violates the state constitution. The group says the requirement creates a new class of people who can’t vote--those who don’t have ID.

A report from the Brennan Center says around one out of 10 voters does note have a state-issued ID card. Gov. Dayton earlier this year vetoed a Republican bill that would have required photo ID to vote in Minnesota.

A legislative commission voted to hire a private law firm to defend the voter ID question lawmakers put on this fall's ballot. Next month the Minnesota Supreme Court will hear arguments in a lawsuit that claims the ballot question does not accurately describe the Constitutional amendment that would require an ID to vote.

Congressman Keith Ellison is circulating a resolution opposing a voter ID requirement and is urging Democrats to adopt it at their precinct caucuses Tuesday. Republicans in the Legislature hope to put the issue on Minnesota's ballot in November. Ellison says Americans who don't have photo IDs should still be allowed to vote.

A coalition that includes Jewish, Muslim, and Christian leaders says it will encourage its 50,000 followers to oppose the voter ID amendment on Minnesota's ballot. Members of the group Prophetic Voices say requiring a government-issued photo ID would take votes away from poor people, the elderly, and students. Some say the push is tinged with racism. Supporters of the measure say it would guard against vote fraud.